Leadership Activities and Academic Service
Tau Beta Pi (2009 - Present)
- District 5 Director (Oct 2015 – Present)
- Nominated position, three-year term (Oct 2015 – Present)
- One of three District Directors that support collegiate chapters in District 5 (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Puerto Rico), with an emphasis on the Georgia and South Carolina Chapters
- Attended National Convention annually and helped organize the District 5 Conference annually
- Laureate Selection Committee (2020 - Present)
- Unvention (Virtual “Convention”) Task Force (2020)
- Alumnus Recognition Selection Committee (2016-2019)
- Florida Alpha Chapter (Aug 2009 – Present)
- Alumnus Advisor, elected (Dec 2012 – May 2024)
- President, elected position (May 2011 – May 2012)
- Chapter won R.C. Matthews Outstanding Chapter Award for 2011-2012
- GatorTRAX Coordinator, appointed position (Dec 2010 – May 2011)
- GatorTRAX is the first implementation of the national society’s MindSET K-12 STEM Outreach Program. These hands-on-delivery modules were developed in part with the UF College of Education and have a three-pronged approach for involving students, parents, and teachers. Participated in Parent GatorTRAX module and attended Teacher Training module in Gainesville
- Recording Secretary, elected position (May 2010 – May 2011)
- Tampa Bay Alumni Chapter, (Aug 2017-Feb 2021)
- Treasurer (Jan 2020-Feb 2021)
- Secretary (Nov 2018-Jan 2020)
- Member (Aug 2017-Feb 2021)
- Atlanta Alumni Chapter (Nov 2012 – Aug 2017)
- Founding Member – Organized a group of local Tau Bates to petition the national organization to start an alumni chapter in the metro Atlanta area
- President, elected position (Jan 2013 – Feb 2017)
- Secretary, elected position (Feb 2017 – Aug 2017)
- Georgia Alpha Chapter (Aug 2012 – Aug 2017)
- MindSET (K-12 Outreach) Committee/Volunteer
- MindSET Coordinator, appointed position (Jan 2014 – May 2014)
- MindSET is the national society’s K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Outreach Program, where we focus on hands-on-delivery of STEM concepts to students. Helped chapter organize and run these weekend modules with students at Centennial Academy, a local elementary school
GT Graduate Leadership Program (2014 - 2015)
- Selected to participate in a yearlong program focused on developing leadership skills
- Central goals of the program were to promote and foster (1) self-awareness, (2) the desire to serve as motivation for leadership, (3) values-based leadership, and (4) the power and possibility of one individual as an agent for positive change in a program specifically designed for graduate students in engineering
- Participated in GLP group project starting and leading a women’s group for biomedical engineering and bioengineering graduate students and post docs (wBME) to provide female students a network to meet other female students, participate in discussions ranging on topics from work-life balance to tips for making it through the PhD process, and meet with female faculty both at Georgia Tech and any visiting and interviewing faculty candidates
14th Annual Virtual Cell (VCell) Short Course (June 2013)
Selected to attend workshop using Virtual Cell to model cathepsin diffusion dynamics
Science for Tomorrow’s Aspiring Researchers (STARs) (Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA), 2013-2016
- Science Club Co-Organizer (May 2014 – May 2016) to inspire 8-10th graders to pursue additional training, and hopefully careers, in STEM and serve as a feeder program for Project ENGAGES
- Interfaced with school leadership and sponsoring teacher to host bi-weekly after school events, typically with 8-12 students attending and 4-5 graduate student facilitators
- Organized volunteers to develop and execute multi-part modules at Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Atlanta, Georgia
- Science club volunteer taking bi-weekly science and engineering demonstrations to two local Atlanta public schools: Business, Engineering, Science, and Technology (B.E.S.T.) Academy and at Coretta Scott King (CSK) Young Women’s Leadership Academy (both single gender academy, paired schools)
- STARs goal was to get students engaged in science and engineering earlier in school, so they could apply for Project ENGAGES in 10th/11th grade
Professional Affiliations
- American Association of Cancer Researchers (AACR)
- American Society of Hematology (ASH)
- Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
- International Society of Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health (ISEMPH)
- National Postdoctoral Association (NPA)
- Pi Tau Sigma, Mechanical Engineering Honor Society (PTS)
- Society of Mathematical Biology (SMB)
- Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
- Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society (TBP)
Awards
- 2020, AACR Doreen J. Putrah Cancer Research Foundation Scholar-in-Training Award; AACR 2020 Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, Apr. 2020 (awarded without stipend due to AACR converting to Virtual Annual Meeting)
- 2019, Competitive BMES Career Development Award to present at BMES 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Oct. 2019
- 2018, Recipient of Moffitt’s Junior Scientist Partnership Award to fund collaborative project with a Cardio-Oncology fellow, Isaac Rhea, on understanding amyloidosis in cancer patients
- 2018 Selected to participate in the NCBI-Style Hackathon at CSHL following the Biological Data Science Meeting, November 10-12, 2018, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
- 2018, Competitive BMES Career Development Award to present at BMES 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia, Oct. 2018
- 2018 Competitive Travel Award to present at JuliaCon 2018 in London, United Kingdom, Aug. 2018
- 2016 Selected to attend Paths Afforded by the Research Enterprise National Science Foundation (NSF) Professional Development Workshop, Aug. 2016
- Interdisciplinary Team Grant (DuraCoast: The Future of Coastal Resilience), judged by Dragana Brzakovic & John Cozzens from NSF, tied for first place 2015
- Georgia Tech Faces of Inclusive Excellence, Sept. 2015
- Nominated for this competitive selection based on work leading the STARs Science Club
- Awarded by the Georgia Tech Institute Diversity Office, the Faces of Inclusive Excellence spotlights deserving faculty, staff, and students who distinguish themselves in their research, teaching, and/or service by received special awards or recognition for their work
- 2013 Tau Beta Pi Fellow, 2013-2014
- Competitive award, based on high scholarship, campus leadership and service, and promise of future contribution to the engineering profession
- 2013 Selected to participant in the 14th Annual Virtual Cell (VCell) Short Course, using Virtual Cell to model cathepsin diffusion dynamics, June 2013, Farmington, Connecticut
- 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Honorable Mention
- 2012 Trainee, NSF STC: Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems (EBICS), 2012-2017
- 2011 Dean’s List, University of Florida, Spring 2009 – Fall 2011 (6 consecutive semesters)
- 2010 Pi Tau Sigma, the Mechanical Engineering Honor Society, Fall 2010
- 2009 Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, Fall 2009
- 2008 President’s Honor Roll, University of Florida, Fall 2008
- 2008 Florida Academic Scholars, 2008 – 2012
- Awarded for academic achievement covering four years of tuition
Institutional Service
Institutional Service
FACULTY (UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA)
BME Department Seminar Committee (2021-Present)
- Solicits input from faculty and students on seminar suggestions
- Reviews suggestions for seminar visitors and makes recommendations to the Chair, with eye on increasing diversity of speakers
- Chair of committee or committee member introduces internal speakers and external speakers if a host is not designated or is absent
Tau Beta Pi, Florida Alpha Chapter Alumnus Advisor (2012-2024)
Serves as one of at least four Alumnus Advisors to help provide continuity of Chapter operations, ensure the Chapter elects candidates who meet the eligibility requirements of the Association, the Chapter, and the University of Florida, and help balance the Chapter’s financial accounts at the end of the year
POSTDOCTORAL (MOFFITT CANCER CENTER)
Postdoctoral Welcome Wagon Group Leader (2020)
Work with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and Human Resources to connect incoming postdocs with current postdocs to help answer questions and easy the incoming postdocs’ transition to Moffitt and Tampa
Moffitt Research Town Hall Postdoctoral Ambassador (2019-2020)
Work with Moffitt leadership to plan and execute bi-annual Research Town Hall events, which aims to engage Moffitt Researchers, highlights the latest work of team members, and address Researcher’s administrative concerns
Served March 2019 - July 2020 [RTH Committee retired due to COVID-19]
Moffitt Postdoctoral Association (MPDA) Communications Committee (2019-2020)
Work with MPDA Communication Chair and Moffitt Strategic Communications to develop public-facing articles featuring postdoctoral research at Moffitt
Develop content and distribute a quarterly newsletter to all Moffitt postdocs
Moffitt Postdoctoral Association (MPDA) Perception Survey Task Force (2018-2019)
Work with Moffitt/MPDA leadership to craft a survey and evaluate responses to gain a better understanding of needs of postdocs at Moffitt
Work with the Survey Core to craft survey questions and administer to all postdoc
Analyze postdoc responses and craft a report summarizing the key take-aways of the survey results for Moffitt administration and the postdoc community
Moffitt Award of Excellence (AOE) Selection Committee (2018)
Participate in committee to review applications for Moffitt’s AOE nominations and select awardees
Peer Review Journal Articles (independently and under P. Altrock Supervision) (2017-2020)
Co-referee journal articles for the following journals: BMC Cancer, Journal of the Royal Society Interface (JRSI), Letters of Biomathematics, JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, Bioinformatics
Publons Profile: https://publons.com/researcher/1664533/meghan-c-ferrall-fairbanks/
GRADUATE (GEORGIA TECH)
EBICS Student Leadership Council Member (2013 - 2017)
- Organize and run outreach, academic, and social events between multiple institutions (primary institutions: Georgia Tech, MIT, UIUC) involved in the EBICS NSF STC
- Provide feedback from trainees to the executive members of EBICS on center directed activities (journal clubs, lectures), EBICS MOOC courses, and introductory material for new students
- Helped plan the annual retreat and suggested trainee networking activities
- Selected to attend the 2016 Reverse Site Visit at NSF in Washington DC for the Center and presented a trainee Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis of the Center to the Site Visit Reviewers
Graduate Student Advisory Board (2013 - 2015)
Secretary; involved with the Graduate Teaching Assistant Education and the Georgia Tech-Emory Subcommittees
EBICS Computational Modeling Working Group Organizer (2013 - 2014)
Organized and presented at the monthly working group meeting between multiple institutions (Georgia Tech, MIT, Tufts, BU, Princeton) involved in the EBICS NSF STC
Community Service
Feeding Tampa Bay – Frogmore Fresh Harvest Volunteer (GenM at Moffit, Tampa, FL) (April 2018)
Picked blueberries at Frogmore Fresh Farm in Dade City that were donated to Feeding Tampa Bay, the leader of hunger relief in the Tampa Bay area
Project ENGAGES 3MT Judge (Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA) (April 2017)
Provide feedback and judge the Project ENGAGES’s three-minute thesis (3MT) competition, where the high school students have to give a three minute, lay-person talk on their research projects
Informational Interviews with UF MAE Undergraduates, Spring 2017
Contacted undergraduate mechanical and aerospace engineering students for informational interviews as part of their EML2920 Departmental and Professional Orientation course to answer questions and discuss jobs, graduate programs, and career paths
Project ENGAGES Boot-camp Teacher (Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA), June 2015, June 2016
Project ENGAGES is a high school internship program, where local high school students are selected to participate in research at Georgia Tech. The program starts in the summer, where the students have a month of intense “boot-camp” to get them up-to-speed on biology and mathematical concepts necessary to work in the lab. Taught high school students recombinant DNA techniques through hands-on laboratory exercises
Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) STEM Awards Judge (Atlanta, GA), 2013
Volunteer as a judge in TAG’s STEM award competition.
MindSET Volunteer (Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA), 2012-2014
Teach elementary school students through engineering modules to help inspire the students to study math and science
SECME Math Test Officer (University of Florida, Gainesville, FL), Spring 2012
Mat#h and Science Olympiad hosted annually by SECME, Southeastern Consortium of Minorities in Engineering, in Gainesville, Florida for local elementary schools to compete in each Spring. The UF Tau Beta Pi Chapter is involved in running the SECME Olympiad in Gainesville, Florida. As the Math Test Officer, I oversaw writing and administering the Math Test at SECME; questions were required to reflect the type found on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) given annual to public school students
GatorTRAX Volunteer (University of Florida, Gainesville, FL), Spring 2011, Fall 2011#, Spring 2012
Expose elementary and middle school students to engineering modules designed to help inspire the students in math and science; help develop new modules for students who attend the events
SECME Volunteer (University of Florida, Gainesville, FL), Spring 2011, Spring 2012
Helped run the Math Test portion of the SECME event; assisted distribution of test and answered questions; SECME is an K-12 program, where students from all over the country come to compete in a Math and Science Olympiad
Robotics Camp Volunteer (Oak Hall School, Gainesville, FL), Summer 2011
Worked with elementary and middle school aged children to program Lego Mindstorm Robots